Meadows

The Summer Meadow

This meadow occupies the central part of the garden. It is almost entirely of native species (only one species Geranium macrorrhizum has invaded from the flower beds). It is cut once per year by hand — usually in November and all cuttings are removed. It is on a clay soil that is impenetrable in the summer.

Meadow Plants

Plants that are naturalised and spreading well include: Geranium pratense (Meadow Cranesbill), Centaurea nigra (Hardheads or Knapweed), Centaurea scabiosa (Greater Knapweed), Knautia arvensis (Field scabious), Dipsacus fullonum (Common Teasel), Oreganum vulgare (Wild Marjoram), Lotus corniculatus (Bird’s-foot Trefoil), Agrimonia eupatoria (Common Agrimony).

Plants that are periodically re-planted to maintain their representation include Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (Oxeye Daisy) and Cichorium intybus (Chicory) — they don’t seed themselves well into the hard soil. Hypericum perforatum (Perforate St John’s Wort) has recently been established – though it is difficult to keep going here in the long term – again due to soil conditions. Some Senecio jacobaea (Ragwort) is tolerated each year — partly to cater for the beautiful cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) and partly for educational reasons — it is a toxic plant. There is a very good range of native grasses which produce a fine interweaving with the knapweeds, scabious and teasels. The meadow looks very fine in late June and July.

 

Attracting Insects

The summer meadow attracts a wide range of insects – it is an excellent feeding ground — solitary bees, bumble bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths. Notable are breeding populations of large and small skipper (Ochlodes venatus and Thymelicus flavus), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegena) using the grasses as larval food plants; Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) and Six-spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) using the Bird’s-foot Trefoil; Comma (Polygonia c-album), Painted Lady (Cynthia cardui), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on the hops and nettles neighbouring the meadow.

Two species of grasshopper are well established in the meadow — the Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) and the Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus). Their large numbers fill the air with song in the hot afternoons of June, July and August.

In August 2001 the first male Long-winged Conehead (Conocephalus discolor) was seen in the long grass of the meadow. This is a relatively rare cricket — a dozen years ago it was restricted to sites on the south coast and in the New Forest. Females were seen later and mating observed on 26th September. One part of the meadow close to the apple espalier path was never cut in the previous year and this had probably encouraged them to stay to breed. Long-winged Coneheads lay their eggs in the stems of uncut grasses and sedges. The same part of the meadow has therefore been left uncut since then. Nymphs were seen in June 2002 and both nymphs and adults again in June and July 2003. The population is now well established and is regularly producing ‘winged forms’ to colonise other areas – such as the new meadows in the Lambeth Walk Open Space. Furthermore we were also able to attract another unusual cricket — Roesel’s Bush Cricket (Metrioptera roeselii) in 2003 — a female was seen during the Open Evening event on 9th July and the following day in the same area of uncut meadow. Young were seen in 2004 and 2005 though none were seen in 2006.  This species has also now become fully established and has colonised Lambeth Walk Open Space.  Both species have good and bad years according to weather conditions – but they are undoubtedly with us permanently now.  Nationally they have moved northwards over the last decade of climate change and are both much more frequently found as far as the Midlands.  Roesel’s Bush Cricket is now recorded in the north and even Scotland.

There are also yellow meadow ant colonies that are well established in the meadow. This cute little ant (don’t worry – it doesn’t bite), lives entirely underground, feeding on the sugars secreted by an aphid that lives on grass roots. It builds mounds as nests that, in our meadow, reach about 50 cm across. When David started in post in 1999 there was only one large nest close to the Indian Horse Chestnut. The hand-cutting regime of the meadow is favourable to the growth of this ant’s nests as it allows mounds to mature. Now there are many mounds – both small and large.  There have been mounds forming in the Lambeth Walk Open Space since 2005.

The New Meadow

A new meadow was established in 2001 in a neighbouring part of Lambeth Walk Open Space — a council park that previously had only mown grass. The turf and upper layer of soil of a part of one area were removed in December 2001, the surface cultivated lightly and sown with native wildflower seed from Landlife. Plants of oxeye daisies were also put in to ensure a show in summer 2002.

The work was done with a local group, the Friends of Lambeth Walk Open Space. The first summer — 2002 — the oxeye daisies put on a superb show, with germination of other plants visible. These field scabious and knapweeds, along with wild carrot (Daucus carota) planted with local students, joined the oxeyes to make it a strong meadow with more variety. The grasshoppers and crickets from the Wildlife Garden have spread to set up a new population here as have the yellow meadow ants. In 2006, however, part of the area was burnt in a fire (cigarette, I’m afraid), destroying a beautiful Santa Catalina Ironwood Tree (Lyonothamnus) planted by Kate Hoey MP and in spring 2007 it is noticeable that the original range of flowers is declining.

Other parts of the area were simply left uncut with mown paths through and around them. These areas produced a big show of Milfoil (Yarrow, Achillea millefolium) — excellent for bees, and some clumps of oxeye daisies appearing in the first season of their own accord. A large circular seat in the centre and an arched seat of oak installed by us in 2001 make the meadow an excellent picnic site for Wildlife Garden visitors.

In summer 2008 the meadow area was – mistakenly – improved.  The council contractors had up to then, been cutting the grass in the larger area of the space beyond the path that we had not converted into meadows.  In June 2008, however, the contractor mowed the meadow side very severely – just as it was coming into full flower!  We complained and the whole of this part of Lambeth Walk Open Space was removed from the contract. Although this mowing did destroy the show in 2008, it led, however, to the revival of the flora of the mound.  Severe mowing can encourage the ‘seed bank’ in the top layers of the soil (which had been building up since 2001) to germinate.  It did so and the show in 2009/10/11 has been much better with field scabious, knapweed, perforate St John’s wort, lady’s bedstraw, meadow cranesbill, white campion, bird’s-foot trefoil, wild carrot and wild chicory and ox-eye daisies all doing well. Roots and Shoots now looks after the whole space.  Since Greg joined the staff, he has used this space for horticultural training and has established new meadow and uncut areas beyond the ‘picnic seat mound’ and borders with cultivated and native species along the road boundary.  These have vastly improved the semi-wild look of the space with superb forage for bees and hoverflies.  The insect list for the space is growing every year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ‘Cellini Orchard’

As part of our early work on improving the Lambeth Walk Open Space we started to establish a new orchard of the apple variety “Cellini” from 2003/4.  David started to run Apple Days from autumn 1999 and in 2003 applied for funding to make a film about apples.  In collaboration with Reen Pilkington, a local photographer and film-maker, we made “ALL OUR APPLE DAYS”. The film explores the origins and history of the apple, how people have enjoyed, used and bred apples and features the wildlife garden, the children of Walnut Tree Walk Primary School, Keepers Nursery near Maidstone and our great friends, David and Gayle Whittingham pressing their “Orchard Bounty Apple Juice” in the barns of their farm in the Usk Valley, Wales.  Apart from being shown at many of our subsequent Apple Days and on the Community Channel, the film also led to David and Gayle donating their pressing equipment to Roots and Shoots in 2004 and to the planting of the Cellini Apple in Lambeth Walk Open Space.  For further details on the film, other apples at Roots and Shoots and Apple Days, see

“Cellini” is a variety that was bred in our area in 1835 – in the nurseries of Leonard Philips near Vauxhall (roughly where New Covent Garden is now).  It is the ‘Vauxhall Apple’!  We have gradually added new trees to the open space in the years since then producing the interesting orchard-and-meadow landscape we mange now. Unfortunately, there has been some vandalism to trees over the years, with the oldest one completely destroyed in 2009, another stolen, complete with stakes, and others damaged by dogs.  We have persistently replaced and cared for the trees and do hope they will one day mature.  They are up against it though – this is also a demolition site and there is much concrete, tarmac and rubble beneath the thin covering of turf.